Jacob Smith’s first King of the Desert title is in sight after setting the fastest time during the Method Wheels Prologue Day at the 2022 Tatts Finke Desert Race. strong>
The Condobolin (NSW) local, who finished seventh in Prologue in 2021, will lead the 487-strong bike field to Finke tomorrow after an impressive assault of the 8.3-kilometre Prologue track, recording a time of 4 minutes and 44.4 seconds.
Smith finished outright second in 2019 and is looking to go one better in 2022 to take home his maiden crown.
Jack Simpson (#2) was 3.8 seconds off the pace in second and 0.3 seconds ahead of two-time King of the Desert David Walsh, who finished third with a time of 4 minutes and 48.5 seconds.
Mildura (VIC) local Brodie Waters (#6) finished in fourth position recording a time of 4 minutes and 52.4 seconds.
Sam Davey rounded out the top five, beating many seasoned veterans to appear at the pointy end of the timesheets during his first campaign of the Finke Desert Race with a time of 4 minutes and 53.6 seconds.
Rising star of the bike category Callum Norton (#5) repeated his 2021 Prologue result, setting the sixth-fastest time.
Nicholas Waters (#7), Ben Grabham (#721), Rick Ireland (#4) and Ivan Long (#X05) rounded out the top 10.
Geelong’s own Danielle Foot is on track to win her third Kay Wharton Fastest Female Category, finishing prologue 72nd.
Full results of the bike prologue can be viewed here.
The bikes will begin the 226-kilometer journey to Finke (Apatula) for the first leg of the 2022 Tatts Finke Desert Race tomorrow at 11.45am.
The 2022 King of the Desert will be crowned following the return to Alice Springs on Monday.
The 2022 Tatts Finke Desert Race is held in Alice Springs on the Queen’s Birthday weekend from 10 – 13 June 2022.
